Teeth protector



1962 L. LQGREENBLUM 3,058,462

TEETH PROTECTOR Filed Aug. 23, 1961 INVENTOR. Lola's 4. Greenb/am ilniteStates My invention relates to improvements in teeth protectors forathletes and particularly to a novel teeth protector for preventinginvoluntary and forceful closing of the lower and the upper set of teethof a football player wearing a protective headgear that has the usualface guard bar affixed thereto.

In present day competitive contact sports, such as football, or thelike, a head protector or helmet is worn by the players and thesehelmets are provided with face guard bars which extend across theforward opening of the helmet and are mounted on the helmet body on bothsides of said opening to protect the pl-ayers face from contact withmoving objects directly in front of his face. There remains, however,the problem of preventatent Q ing damage to the players teeth resultingfrom the forccful closing of the jaws by objects moving upwardly againstthe lower jaw which have caused damage to the players tongue or whichbring the teeth together with such impact as to crack or damage one ormore of them It is, therefore, the main object of my invention toprovide a teeth protecting mouthpiece for athletes wearing headgearhaving a face guard bar fixed thereon which mouthpiece has an improvedattachment means with said face guard that will hold it in an attentionattracting and observable position in front of the players face at timeswhen the mouthpiece is not required in play.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mouthpiece devi e havingthe foregoing characteristics which will provide a means for selfejection of the mouthpiece from the players mouth into an inoperativeposition by voluntary or involuntary opening of the mouth. Involuntaryopening of the mouth would occur if the player happened to be knockedunconscious by a blow whereby the mouthpiece would be ejected from theplayers mouth or it may be voluntarily ejected from the mouth when it isnot required for play.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedteeth protector capable of fitting mouths of substantially all athletesand which may be packaged in a small unit for attachment to the faceprotector guard bar of a football helmet, or the like.

With these and other objects of the invention in prospect the presentinvention will be fully understood from the following descriptionconsidered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a player wearing a headgear and itsaffixed face guard bar with my teeth protector shown attached to saidbar.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of my teeth protector prior to its attachmentto the face guard bart of the headgear.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the teeth protector shown in FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is a central, cross-sectional view taken through my mouthpieceinterposed between the players teeth, the players mouth being shown indotted lines and the face guard bar of the headgear being broken awayand shown in section.

Referring to the drawings the numeral 10 designates a protectiveheadgear used as required equipment in the game of footba i, saidheadgear being provided with a face guard bar 11 that has a generallyarcuate shape and is positioned on the headgear to extend across andforwardly of the forward opening 12 in the headgear. As shown in FIG. 1the bar is reticular and has its ends 13 fastened as by rivets 14 to theheadgear body on opposite 3,058,462 Patented Oct. 16, 1962 "ice sides ofthe opening 12. The guard bar 11 is thus positioned on the headgear toprotect the face, eyes, nose and mouth of a player from blowor objectsmoving from in front of the players face and it has been generallyrecognized that this guard bar is effective against such blows andforces. The protective headgear is also provided with a chin strap 15designed to prevent displacement of the headgear during use thereof.

My teeth protector 16 is designed for use with the athletic headgear 10and its face guard bar 11 to prevent damage to the player teethresulting from impact of the lower jaw with upwardly moving objects orforces which would otherwise cause the player to involuntarily andforcefully close the upper and lower sets of teeth on each other. Theprotector includes a mouth insert member indicated by the referencenumeral 17 and which is generally shown and described in my Patent2,800,898 of July 30, 1957. This month insert member is constructed of aone-piece, resilient body that is horse shoe shaped in plan and isadapted to be received between the front teeth of the upper and lowerfront sets of teeth of an athlete in order to prevent violent physicalcontact between the sets of teeth when a blow is received on the lowerjaw. As best shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 the insert has a U-shaped bottomwall 13 that is to be interposed between the front portions of the upperand lower sets of teeth when the mouthpiece isin operative posi "29being curved anteriorly to form with the bottom and arched walls acurved trough for receiving the front teeth of a set of teeth and thegum portions therefor. As shown in FIG. 4 the insert 17 is best adaptedto fit the front teeth of the lower set of teeth but may, if desired, bereversed and used to fit the upper set of teeth, it being the mainobjective that the bottom wall 18 of the mouth insert be interposedbetween the upper and lower teeth when the insert is being worn.

As best illustrated in FIG. 2 the ends of the curved wall 20 terminateforwardly of the straight posterior edge 21 of the mouth protector thusproviding a lateral clearance at the sides of the insert for theattachment of the flexible headgear connector means 22 for the insert.To this end a hole 23 is formed through each end portion of the bottomwall 18 and through each of said holes there is threaded a flexiblelongitudinally extensible connector cord 24. One of said cord-s may beknotted as at 25 Whilst the ends of the opposite cord may remainunconnected for the purpose of readily connecting the said ends to theface guard bar 11 of the headgear 10. In FIG. 1 there is illustrated amanner of connecting and positioning the mouth insert 17 on the faceguard bar and, as indicated therein, the insert 17 has one of itsflexible cords 24 connected one on each side of the central portion ofthe face guard bar to swing or dangle the insort in front of theathletes face, the insert being sus-' pended on the bar at all timesthat the headgear is worn in a position to attract the attention of theplayer and be readily taken into the athletes mouth when it isrequiredas a teeth protector for a forthcoming play.

With reference to FIG. 4 it will be understood that when the mouthinsert is positioned in the athletes mouth.

ble position for immediate insertion into the mouth when it is requiredfor actually playing of the game of football, or the like.

Having thus described my invention and the best manner of using it Ifurther contemplate that my teeth proteetor may be associated with theheadgear proper or with a headgear accessory other than the particularface guard bar 11 provided my teeth protector, when not in actual use,be suspended from the headgear to swing in front of the players face inan observable position substantially by the means described herein.

What is claimed is:

1. A protective mouthpiece to prevent involuntary and forceful closingof the lower and upper sets of teeth of an athlete wearing a headgearhaving a face guard bar fixed thereon comprising a mouth insert made ofa onepiece, resilient material and having a U-shaped bottom wall adaptedfor interposition between the upper and lower sets of teeth an archedwall joined to the posterior edge of the bottom wall and a curved walljoined to the anen'or edge of said bottom wall, said arched and curvedWalls adapted to embrace the front teeth and gums of one set of teeth, ahole formed through the bottom wall, a flexible, longitudinallyextensible core extending through the hole in the bottom wall, and meansfor securing the opposed free end of the cord to the central portion ofthe face guard bar.

2. The protective mouthpiece set forth in claim 1 characterized by thefact that the means for securing the opposed free end of the cord to thecentral portion of the face guard bar consists of a cord in the form ofa closed loop passing through the hole in the bottom Wall, and the freeend of the cord being adapted to be engaged around the face guard bar.

3. A protective mouthpiece to prevent involuntary and forceful closingof the lower and upper sets of teeth of an athlete wearing a headgearhaving a face guard bar fixed thereon comprising a mouth insert made ofa onepiece resilient material and having a U-shaped bottom wall adaptedfor interposition between the upper and lower sets of teeth, an archedwall joined to the posterior edge of the bottom wall, and a curved walljoined to the anterior edge of the said bottom wall said arched andcurved Walls adapted to embrace the front teeth and gums of one set ofteeth, the curved wall terminating anteriorly of the bottom wall at thesides thereof, a hole formed through the bottom wall at each sidethereof, a flexible, longitudinally extensible cord having its centralportions extending through each hole, and means for securing the opposedfree ends of each of the cords to the face guard bar on opposite sidesof the center portion thereof.

4. A protective mouthpiece to prevent involuntary and forceful closingof the lower and upper sets of teeth of an athlete wearing a headgearhaving a face guard bar fixed thereon comprising a mouth insert made ofa one-piece resilient material and having a U-shaped bottom wall adaptedfor interposition between the upper and lower sets of teeth, an archedwall joined to the posterior edge of the bottom Wall, and a curved walljoined to the anterior edge of the said bottom wall, said arched andcurbed walls adapted to embrace the front teeth and gums of one set ofteeth, the curved wall terminating anteriorly of the bottom wall at thesides thereof, a hole formed through the bottom wall at each sidethereof, a flexible, longitudinally extensible cord having its centralportion extending through each hole, and means for securing the opposedfree ends of each of the cords to the face guard bar on opposite sidesof the center portion thereof, with said cords being adapted to suspendthe insert from the bar when the mouth insert is not used, said cordsbeing of a length to be placed under tension when the insert is inposition in the athletes mouth.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,694,397 Herms Nov. 16, 1954 2,800,898 Greenblum July 30, 19572,847,003 Helmer Aug. 12, 1958 2,983,046 Jenkins May 9, 1961 rUNITEDSTATES PATENT FFECE CERTIFICATE OF CGRECTION Patent No. 3,058,462

October 16 1962 Louis L. Greenblum It is hereby certified that errorappears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that thesaid Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 3, line 19, after "teeth" 24, for "core" read cord "{ourbed" readcurved insert a comma; line column 4, line 22, for

Signed and sealed this 19th day of March 1963,

(SEAL) Attest:

ESTON G JOHNSON Attesting Officer DAVID L. LADD Commissioner of Patents

